The Once and Future King
by Andrei - ddrhckrzz
Summary: Jaune Arc wasn't quite sure how it came to this, one moment he was on his way to Beacon Academy for the enrollment, and the next, he was being chased down by some weird looking robots, and before he knew it a scorpion faunus named Tyrian was kneeling right in front of him. (Time Travel Elements)
1. 01 - Prologue - My King

**The Once and Future King**

**01 - Prologue - My King**

* * *

Jaune looked at the instructions in the letter he was given before scratching his head as he wondered just how the heck he was supposed to understand where he was supposed to go.

Well, it wasn't that he couldn't read, it was more of how he didn't really understand which transport was which. There were many weird designations for the airships and bullheads here, he honestly wondered how anyone in the Kingdoms could even understand this…

He suddenly bumped into someone having not paid attention to his surroundings. Falling to the ground and hearing his weapons clang against it, he groaned, looking up to apologize to the person he bumped into before freezing as he stared, eyes wide, into the barrel of a gun, a black and orange robot pointing it at him.

Jaune, somehow being lucky enough to avoid being blasted immediately, quickly rolled to the side and bolted away from the area, running away as fast as he could.

"W-What the hell?!" Jaune shouted, ducking as he saw a sign up ahead, somehow dodging a shot that would have very much blown his head apart. "A-Aaaah!" he screamed, running as fast as he could, jumping over cars as he crosses a road, dodging literal bullets as he tries to avoid the random obstacles in front of him, before eventually finding himself inside an abandoned building.

He continued running, ignoring how tired his legs were, but he was just doing his best to stay alive, actually, he didn't really know why he was still alive, he wasn't that fast anyways.

As soon as he thought of that, he tripped on a construction pipe, falling head first to the ground, feeling hot air pass his back, signifying just how close he was to dying once more. What the hell?!

Jaune frantically tried to get up and ended up trying to pitifully crawl away, but he was trapped. He looked in front of himself and saw a wall, turning back to where he came from, he saw the robot that was chasing him. Or, more precisely, the robots that were chasing him down.

Robots covered in black, with some orange highlights, they all held large guns that, from what he could see now, was actually shooting lasers, as evident from the red glow that was appearing inside the barrel.

This was his last moment. He didn't even get to go to Beacon. How… pitiful.

Clenching his fists, he pushed himself up and glared at the robots aiming their guns at him. He grit his teeth, he may die now, but he wasn't going to do it lying down. Screaming, he felt something snap inside him, and a bright white light shot out of him, and before he knew it, the robots around him were gone.

Surprised at what had just happened, he stepped back, staring at the space where the robots had just been surrounding him. As he stood there, frozen in shock, he heard clapping. Jaune's gaze snapped towards the dark corner, where the clapping was coming from, and watched as a man appeared out of the darkness.

A smiling man, wearing a monocle and elegant white clothes emblazoned with golden patterns. What stuck out the most, however, was the scorpion tail that was protruding from behind him.

A scorpion faunus, Jaune's eyes widened, making him stand on edge as he placed his hand on his sword, before realizing that he had dropped it lately. Out of options, he clenched his fists and got in a stance, but the man simply stopped and stared at him with a frown.

Then, he spoke, "Oh, dear. I seem to have forgotten my manners." the man smiled apologetically, then kneeled towards him, "Forgive me, but I am Tyrian Callows, a humble servant of yourself, my king." the man said, offering Crocea Mors towards Jaune.

"T-Tyrian Callows?" Jaune's eyes were wide, he didn't know who the hell this person was, but with the way he was acting… "K-King…?"

"Ah… yes." Tyrian looked up towards him, a small smile upon his face, "Yes, King. You are King Jaune of Arc, the one who inherits all of Remnant. The Once and Future King of Remnant." chuckling, Tyrian continued, "My King, please receive Crocea Mors."

Jaune was absolutely shocked, as he grabbed ahold of Crocea Mors, he noticed just how much his hand was shaking.

Steeling himself, he gripped at Crocea Mors hard, taking it from Tyrian's hands. Holding it in his hands felt different now for some reason… as he stared in wonder at the weapon in his hands, Tyrian suddenly stood up and exclaimed,

"Rejoice! For the path of the Once and Future King of Remnant has begun! Taking his first step towards conquest, the world will soon know the name Jaune Arc!" Tyrian grinned, looking extremely excited as Jaune simply stared at his reflection in Crocea Mors with an uncertain feeling…

It felt as though he had taken one step into something he absolutely shouldn't have.

And yet, he felt invigorated.

* * *

Glynda was currently en route to Beacon Academy when she suddenly happened upon some papers that were on the ground. Frowning, she picked it up, feeling annoyed at the nerve of people these days.

She stared at it and raised a brow, Jaune Arc… transcripts? These… these certainly don't look right. Instructions to get into Beacon…

Narrowing her eyes, she looked around but saw nobody who seemed to match the image in the transcripts, sighing, she decided to hold on to it for now. Hopefully this Jaune Arc kid would just go to Beacon to enroll, he was lucky that she'd picked up his transcripts.

Deciding to hold on to it, she went on towards the docks, not noticing the pair of pink eyes that were staring at her from afar, an ominous smile on their face.

"And so it begins…" the pink eyes suddenly shifted to brown, before disappearing.

A new legend has begun and the clock ticks forward… onto a different, and uncertain future.

* * *

**A/N: A fairly lackluster start after me not being on for a long time, but, hopefully, I won't be too busy with college. What fics are still up for me will probably continue, I won't say which, but hopefully it's not too late yet hahaha. Chapters of this story should be longer after this though.**


	2. 02 - Future of Nothingness

**The Once and Future King**

**02 - Future of Nothingness**

* * *

**A/N: Before this starts, I would just like to address the reviews... yes, this was definitely inspired by Kamen Rider Zi-O, and there will be a lot of elements similar to it, but, it was an inspiration, and nothing more. The story you'll see here will be far more different than what was in Zi-O, but there definitely will be a lot of similarities. This whole story was inspired from that, after all.**

**Also how did you guys figure it out so quickly? I didn't expect there to be a bunch of people who knew Zi-O here, lol.**

* * *

Julius Arc suddenly opened his eyes as he felt a sudden spike of Aura being activated somewhere. A familiar one, containing that of his own blood…

"Another Arc has awakened the ancient power… but why this soon?" he muttered to himself, standing up from his throne and walking down the steps of the dark room. As he got down the steps, he paused, feeling something familiar yet strange approaching… "The Royal Aura is definitely within you… yet you do not hold the blood of it. Who dared bestow power upon you, mere commoner?"

"Ah, forgive me, Lord Arc." a scorpion faunus appeared before him, dressed in white and gold, a silver monocle present by his right eye, hands gloved in silver… a telltale sign of a Royal Retainer. The man knelt before him, "I am but a servant of the King of Remnant, Jaune Arc."

Julius narrowed his eyes at the faunus' words, "King of Remnant… Jaune Arc… what does my grandson have to do with this?"

The faunus didn't look up, instead answering by pulling out a letter and offering it to Julius.

Julius' eyes gleamed as he saw the letter, it was the very same one used by the royalty of Remnant from way back then. And, seeing, or rather, feeling, the Aura imbued within it, he could verify that what this faunus was saying was true. Furrowing his brows in worry, he took the letter and carefully inspected it.

On the bottom left was the royal stamp, declaring this letter to be completely confidential and being something which may only be opened by another member of royalty. The insignia of House Arc… brushing away the stray feelings which came to him, he poured his own Aura into it and the letter glowed, resonating with his aura… before disappearing in a flash of light, information flooding into his soul.

Julius suddenly found himself in an empty field, an endless green expanse, in front of him stood one who very much bore the signature Arc features, blond, blue eyes, and an ethereal glow surrounding their form.

From what he knew, this was his grandson.

"Jaune Arc. So you… became the King of Remnant?" Julius asked, taking his time. There was no need to rush after all, in this plane, time flows separate from that of Remnant itself.

The other Arc before him, Jaune, smiled. It was an odd one to see on an Arc, warm and full of emotion, but he supposed he was simply raised differently.

"Yes, grandfather." Jaune replied before sighing, "But… not for the better."

Julius furrowed his brows, "Oh?"

"Salem had forced our hand. I was unprepared, very much so, although you had helped me as best as you can… it was far too late." Jaune closed his eyes, "Remnant was already hers."

Julius stayed silent at that for a while, "We were far too complacent." he said after a few moments of thinking. "Was that it?"

However, Jaune shook his head, "No. Grandfather… Julius, we were lied to."

Julius narrowed his eyes in anger, "They wouldn't…" he muttered, mostly to himself,

Jaune just stared at him with sympathy, then he closed his eyes, "Perhaps… it's better to show you."

And then… he saw.

* * *

Julius opened his eyes, to Tyrian, this happened in an instant, but to Julius, an eternity has passed. As he came back to Remnant he found himself letting out a breath, something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Perhaps… we were too trusting." he muttered to himself, before staring at the scorpion faunus, "Rise, Tyrian. Forgive me that such a burden was placed unto you by my grandson, but I can't really do much of it now."

Tyrian slowly stood up, eyes closed as he morosely remembered the king he served faithfully. "No. It is the least I could do for what he has done for a lowly one as myself." he said, opening his eyes and staring at Julius Arc, a man who was quite tall even compared to his own king.

"You have a strong heart, Tyrian… what will you do of the other who serves Salem?" Julius asked, watching as the faunus momentarily let out a murderous intent.

"I… will not intervene." Tyrian answered slowly, looking to the side, "Not unless, of course, he dares to touch my king."

Julius observed Tyrian carefully before nodding, "Very well. Do raise Jaune well, at the point he's at right now, I very much think he'd need your guidance."

"Of course, my Lord." Tyrian bowed, "When will you meet him sir?"

Julius paused, frowning. Certainly, he'd wish to see his grandson at this moment and guide him himself, but… the future was rather complicated, and it looked as though there may be more interlopers in the future, so he had much work to do.

"When the time calls for it." Julius answered, not sure when he would be able to meet Jaune himself, "I shall contact you by then. Hopefully, Jaune will be more knowledgeable by then."

Tyrian smiled at this, "As you wish, my Lord. I shall raise him to the best of my abilities."

Julius nodded, "See to it that you do. Very well then, you are dismissed."

At those words, Tyrian disappeared into a trail of light. Julius then turned around to the throne he had been sitting on for the last few years…

It was an empty, meaningless throne. Perhaps, in the end, he regretted stepping down from the throne.

That was then… something that he wouldn't be able to change, not even with what he knew now.

"My grandson…" Julius muttered to himself, "Jaune, your sacrifice—the sacrifice of your world. It will not be in vain." his appearance then suddenly changed as he finally let go of the royal robes he'd worn for so long. He smiled, his eyes glowing a bright blue, he would walk the lands of Remnant once more.

Before he left his temple, however… he turned to the side, staring at the curious pair of eyes that were watching him. Mismatched eyes the shade of pink and brown.

He chuckled to himself, "I wonder, how did Jaune ever find you in your world, Nero?"

Eyes turned to pink, then brown, before settling into blue. A scoff echoed out the temple, "He was a rather persistent boy. Couldn't stop asking questions."

"The same as you." Julius grinned, "Now, I wonder, why are you here?"

Neo, or rather, Nero, grinned as she walked into the fairly-lit area of the temple, looking straight at Julius, "Why indeed, grandfather?"

* * *

Jaune sat up on his bed as he awoke from his sleep. Remembering the events of the day before, he frowned, he still didn't quite understand what had happened… but, it didn't feel like it mattered all that much.

Yes, definitely not, because right now… he really needs to go enroll into Beacon Academy!

His eyes widened, "Oh no my transcripts!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his bed and going over to his bag, looking through his stuff. "No no no no… sis is going to kill me if she finds out! Oh no… why did this have to happen to me!"

Panicking, he hurriedly rummaged through his belongings, making a mess in his small hotel room, but he didn't notice a white and gold dressed man, Tyrian, standing behind him, observing his actions.

"Oh God, what am I going to tell her… I can't just go back home either, mom and dad are going to kill me! Fuck, where did I have to put it? Argh…" Jaune continued to mumble to himself, somehow missing Tyrian's presence even as he moved past the said man.

After a while, Tyrian sighed, "My King…"

Jaune continued to ignore Tyrian, focusing on finding his missing transcripts, "I don't want to be a criminal! I mean, not like I aren't one already with what I did, but—damn it!" he clenched his fists, screaming in frustration as he felt a hand on his shoulder, "What do you want?!"

Tyrian blinked, "Oh dear. Such temper will be bad for you, my liege." regardless, he sighed, pulling Jaune up and making him stand straight patting his clothes down, "Your transcripts aren't lost, if that's what you're worried about."

Jaune was about to get annoyed again, before he realized just what Tyrian had said, "Say what?" he blinked, staring at Tyrian, confused.

Tyrian smiled and shook his head, "What I'm saying, my liege, is that your transcripts are in good hands."

"Oh! Uhm… then can you give them to me?" Jaune asked, hoping that Tyrian would help him. "Wait, how did you even get here in my room? Wasn't the door locked—"

"Forgive me, my liege, but I cannot give them to you right now." Tyrian said, stepping back and looking at Jaune with narrowed eyes and a hand to his chin, "Your current self is not quite fit enough to enter Beacon Academy yet."

"I—well… I guess you're right." Jaune sighed, scratching the back of his head, "But honestly, I don't really know what to do, I don't have much time left, and if I don't try to get into Beacon now, then I'll never be able to do it ever…"

Tyrian stared at his king and smiled sadly, "Yes, that's unfortunately the case." he then let out a breath and put his hands behind his back, standing straight in front of Jaune, "However, it isn't too late to get you in shape for Beacon. We still have two weeks after all."

"R-Really?" Jaune asked, "I-I'll do whatever I need to do! Please, tell me how!"

Tyrian laughed, "No need to plead, my liege, I am only your retainer after all, this is as much as I need to do." he grinned, "Now, what I'll put you through won't be easy, but I assure you, my liege, that you will only come out better from it. Are you up for the challenge?"

Jaune clenched his fists, remembering the words that had begun his dream in the first place. "Yes. Whatever it takes, I will get through it."

Tyrian laughed—no, more like he cackled, a manic smile appearing on his face after a while along with a crazed look in his eyes. "Yes, just what I liked from you, my liege. Then… we shall begin."

Tyrian raised his hand and snapped his fingers, even though they were gloved, a bright flash covering them both.

Jaune didn't quite expect, however, that the training which Tyrian would thrust upon him would be something that would test his mental fortitude more than it had ever been.

* * *

**A/N: Can't say much on a schedule, I'll just mainly be doing this whenever I can, things are rather busy here in college now after all, haha. Still, hopefully I can get a chapter out on some of my other stories soon. So, hopefully my old readers can look forward to that, and I'm sorry for being away for so long, I'll try my best to not disappear so suddenly again!**


	3. 03 - Visions of a Possibility

**The Once and Future King**

**Chapter 3 - Visions of a Possibility**

* * *

Jaune probably should have expected this, being thrown headfirst into a Grimm infested area would be one of the better ways to get himself more used to fighting Grimm so he could gain more experience and get used to being a Huntsman, but what he didn't expect was that they wouldn't be out here surviving to kill Grimm all day, but instead they were fishing.

Fishing.

Why?

Feeling a bit cheated, Jaune sulked as he lazily watched over his fishing line. Observing the small ripples being made in the water as he waited to see if something would bite on his pole. He didn't really expect much though, instead his mind wandered as he thought of just how much he didn't know as he continued onwards his dream of becoming a Huntsman.

What he'd learned from the last few days with Tyrian was that there was more to being a Hunter than just fighting and slaying Grimm, heck, he didn't even know that Aura was a thing until Tyrian pointed out how he'd defeated the robots from a few days ago. Speaking of which, he still wasn't sure what was up with the whole deal with Tyrian serving him and calling him a King.

He tried not to think about it too much, but it still bugged him a lot, he'd tried asking Tyrian about it, but all he ever said was that he was simply destined to be King and that he was merely a servant, or, rather, a retainer for him.

Most of it went over his head, but he got the gist of it, basically, Tyrian's job was to guide him towards the path of becoming King and overall just serving to his needs.

What he didn't get though, was why they were out here doing nothing but just fishing… He wanted to ask, but at the same time, he didn't want to be rude—even if he was technically being served by Tyrian, it just didn't feel right to him.

Tyrian turned to him as he stared deep into the water, focusing on the point where the fishing line went into the water, fishing hook submerged below with the bait for the fish alongside it.

Tyrian couldn't help but smile and shake his head, he'd expected this, but to see his King's younger self and observe just how mindful he was of others made him reminisce of the time he'd met the King himself. At least, at the time when it wasn't a battlefield.

To think that he'd been so lost but his King was still kind enough to give even a man like him salvation… It truly made him grateful. That's why he wanted to do his best to guide and teach this younger version of his King to become the greatest King he could be.

Jaune suddenly blinked as he noticed his fishing pole start to twitch, feeling something catching on his line. "Oh! I think I caught something!" he started to pull at the fishing pole, reeling the line in, struggling a bit, "Urgh! This… this is pretty heavy…!" he grunted, reeling in the fishing line with all his strength.

Standing up slowly and pulling backwards on the fishing pole while struggling to reel it in, Jaune grunted, after a few seconds of struggling, he was finally able to pull the fish up, falling on his butt as the fish he'd caught flung up into the air alongside his line.

Before the large fish could fall on the ground as Jaune let go of the fishing pole, Tyrian caught it with his hand and placed it in the bucket they had by the side before going back to his pole to observe if he'd caught anything yet.

Jaune, on the other hand, breathed in and out hard, before laughing as he sat up and looked to Tyrian. "That was fun." he said honestly.

"It is, isn't it?" Tyrian said, smiling as he continued to observe the waters, "Sometimes, we're caught up in the flow of everyday life so much that we tend to forget about the little things that make living beautiful."

Jaune nodded, understanding his words completely, "Yeah… I'd forgotten how much I missed doing this."

"With your father, right?" Tyrian said, making Jaune look down to the flowing river in front of them.

"Yeah… when I was a kid." Jaune said, "Then again, you probably already know about that."

"Indeed I do." Tyrian confirmed, "Although, my liege, do you understand why we're doing this?"

Jaune frowned, "No, I don't really know." he said, shaking his head, "I'm not sure how this would help improve me becoming a Hunter, or making me more qualified to take Beacon's entrance exam."

"Indeed, it does seem rather random, doesn't it? But this is simply the first part, to let you reflect. What did you notice as you were waiting for something to get caught?"

Jaune blinked, furrowing his brows in thought, "I felt… at peace, almost serene? As though I was waiting for something to come, but at the same time, not really being impatient enough to do anything other than just watch."

"And when you did catch something?"

"It was as if a switch was flipped? Kind of like when you start to realize that you finally have to do something, to act and, well, I guess in my case lately, pull as hard as I could to get my reward." Jaune smiled awkwardly, laughing as he turned to face Tyrian,

Tyrian nodded, smiling as he reeled in the fish that he'd caught. Unlike how Jaune did it lately, there was little trouble for Tyrian, instead, he simply reeled it in, and as soon as the fish came out of the water, it stopped moving.

"In a sense, that's how life is. To make the comparison clearer, it's like a battle. After all, it's not always all about strength and putting as much effort as you can to achieve what you want, oftentimes, it ends up being who properly handles their strength that wins a battle." Tyrian explained, setting aside the fish and the fishing pole as he moved to prepare their campfire. "Today, I just wanted you to learn about that. Strength is important, but it isn't everything. For some… it may even be their weakness."

He left Jaune with that, going out to get some wood for the fire they'll use.

Jaune just sat there before turning back to the river, staring at his reflection as he thought about what Tyrian had said.

"Strength isn't everything huh…" he muttered to himself, staring at his gloved hands, before clenching his fists. "Then I guess I'll just have to master what strength I already have."

Resolving himself, he smiled and looked up to the sky. Just over the horizon, he could see Beacon Academy…

Maybe his dream wasn't so far after all.

He was just getting closer to it.

One step at a time.

* * *

Jaune grunted as he got knocked down to the ground by the Ursa again, breathing hard before quickly rolling away as he saw the Ursa's large claws come down to where he'd just been. Pushing himself off the ground, he jumped away as the Ursa attacked him again, just barely missing his shoulder before he raised his shield to block it.

Standing his ground against the Ursa as it attacked him again, he waited for a good opportunity to strike. Ducking below it's paw as it went over his head and blocking the other one, he stepped forward and sliced the Ursa's head off.

Jaune sighed in relief as the Grimm fell to the ground and started to disappear into dust. This was always the weird part, seeing the Grimm just disappearing into some weird dark smoke. Tyrian had explained it to him as the Grimm decomposing into their original form, but it only made him more confused, wondering just what the Grimm was made of in the first place if they ended up decomposing into this weird dark smoke…

Still, at the very least he was getting more and more used to fighting Grimm now. He also felt like he was getting stronger, not to mention how he was starting to understand how to use his Aura now.

Speaking of which… "Tyrian, why can't I use my Aura when fighting Grimm?" he said, turning to the side as Tyrian appeared out of nowhere.

Tyrian put a hand to his chin, "Well, my liege, it's not as though you can't use your Aura against them, I'm just having you practice fighting just with your own strength right now."

"Yeah? Still, I have a lot of Aura, can't I at least use some of it when fighting?"

"Of course. But, there will be a time where you may need to conserve your Aura, and it's better for you to learn how to use your Aura efficiently so that you don't just end up wasting all of it." Tyrian then walked up to a tree. "Consider this, for instance."

Tyrian poured some Aura onto his hand, making it glow white. Then, he slashed the trunk of a tree with it, causing a small explosion and a large amount of wood to chip off, leaving a deep mark, and causing the tree to fall down.

"Seems a bit excessive, no?" he said, making Jaune nod, "Sometimes, you just need to pour a bit of aura instead of throwing everything into it to achieve what you want." he then moved to another tree, pouring aura onto his hand again, but this time, it glowed fainter than before. He slashed the tree and left a clean smooth cut through the trunk, causing it to fall over cleanly

"Oh…" Jaune remarked as he saw this, "That's cool. So I can do that too?"

Tyrian turned to him and smiled, "Yes, though it would be much more refined and powerful considering how you have Crocea Mors with you."

Jaune's eyes widened in realization, "Ah! Right, I can pour Aura into Crocea Mors…" he looked down to his weapon and tightened his grip on it as he grinned, "Alright, let's see what you can do."

Jaune turned the shield back into a sheath and placed it on his side for now, then he held the sword with both hands, pouring just enough Aura into it to make it glow white. To his surprise, the sword started to feel lighter, and at some point he barely even felt the weight at all. Readying himself, he held the sword to the side, before swinging it in an Arc.

As he'd thought, the Aura shot out of the sword, forming a sort of energy beam like he'd seen in those movies, expanding as it moved out towards the trees, cutting through them cleanly and going a fair distance, even hitting a few Grimm on the way, making Jaune laugh.

"Woah! This is really cool!" he exclaimed, excited, "I'm going to be awesome!"

Tyrian chuckled at that, "Try not to overdo it though, you may hurt your friends if you aren't careful."

"Huh?" Jaune blinked, turning to him, surprised. "Can't they block it?"

"Some may be able to. But your Aura is special, it's not quite something most other Aura can block. The Royal Aura can only be matched by other people with it, after all."

At learning that, Jaune frowned, "Say, you keep talking about this Royal Aura or whatever and how I'm going to be King… but how exactly am I related to any of this Royalty thing or whatever? I know my family is a line of powerful Huntsman, but… that's really it, I don't really see just how I'm this Royalty or whatever…"

Tyrian frowned at that, "Well, I would like to tell you the details, my liege, but… Lord Arc has expressly told me not to divulge anything for now."

"Lord Arc? Is my father hiding something from me…?" Jaune muttered to himself, looking worried.

Tyrian sighed, "Forgive me, my liege, but I was simply ordered not to tell you anything for now."

Jaune stayed silent at that.

Just what were the Arcs, really?

* * *

Ozpin was about to take a sip of his coffee before he felt something shift.

Heaving a sigh, Ozpin placed his cup of coffee on the table and stood up in time to face the man who he had long thought was never going to appear again.

"My Lord, I wasn't quite expecting—"

"Old friend, pardon my intrusion, but… I would like for you to do me a favor." the deep blue eyes and golden hair of the old King still looked as mesmerizing as ever, this was Julius Arc, the once King of Vale. In his hands, a small letter appeared, bearing the signature Arc insignia, with a golden crown attached to it. But that wasn't the only one, other insignias of once thought gone families were there once more.

Ozpin was expecting them to return someday, but to think it would be this early…

"... My King, are you sure about this?" Ozpin muttered in a low voice, furrowing his brows as he stared at the letter being handed to him.

The four Royal Families of Remnant… all their marks were here.

Julius just smiled, "Consider it… a payback, if you will. Something quite terrible happened along the way, and… it'd be irresponsible of me to not take care of it, no?"

Ozpin caught the hidden meaning within that. So he failed. But…

How?

"Make your choice, Ozpin." Julius' eyes started to glow a bright blue, "Count up your sins… if you can."

* * *

**A/N: WBX~**

**Sorry, I couldn't help it. (I'm definitely gonna put more Kamen Rider references later on)**


	4. 04 - A Small Test

**The Once and Future King**

**Chapter 4 - A Small Test**

* * *

"We will be making our way to Beacon Academy now, Your Highness." Tyrian said respectfully. Over the past few days, Jaune managed to convince Tyrian to not call him 'liege' or 'king' but only up to this point.

It seems as though he was disgusted by the mere idea of not treating him like the royalty that he supposedly was.

Regardless of that, Jaune did learn a lot in the last week with Tyrian. Though Tyrian did a lot of the work, like cooking and hunting for food and such, Jaune did participate every now and then. They stayed and lived in the Emerald Forest (he'd learned that was what this forest was called) for a few week and Jaune managed to learn a lot.

Though it was still kind of embarrassing having Tyrian bath him, but the man simply insisted upon it, stating how this was something he had to get used to as someone of royalty.

Still, he'd learned to ignore most of the awkward stuff after a while, and he'd been learning how to talk formally and act as such. Who knew etiquette was so rigorous?

Still, Jaune didn't complain much, it was the least he could do for the help that Tyrian was giving him in becoming a Huntsman. Speaking of which, he was a lot stronger now, he could also feel his control over his aura was much smoother than before.

He was starting to understand why they started in a river in the first day here, controlling and using Aura was akin to directing the flow of a river. His Aura starting from some point within his body, and expanding all-throughout like a flowing river.

It was surprisingly easy once he'd learned about that, now, he was much more confident in his ability as a Huntsman, feeling like he could definitely get into Beacon now even without those transcripts.

Speaking of which… he wondered how his family would react to it, considering someone like him, born of royalty, tried to get in to Beacon by cheating…

He hoped that he wouldn't get scolded too badly.

"Your Highness?" Jaune blinked as Tyrian snapped him out of his thoughts, "Is there something on your mind?"

Jaune simply smiled, "Yeah… I'm just happy. To finally have myself one step closer to my dream."

Tyrian smiled and nodded at that, "Indeed, Beacon should pose no problem for you now. Shall we go, your highness?"

"Yes." Jaune nodded, and Tyrian snapped his fingers again, covering them in a bright flash of white.

Jaune still found this weird, the ability that Tyrian had, as far as he'd been told, this wasn't a power that Tyrian originally had, but was instead given to him by an Arc. It made him wonder who it was…

Feeling his Aura react, they found themselves in the Vale docks as the bright flash of white disappeared.

They ignored the surprised looks of the others around them, instead walking towards the startled guard who was blocking the way to the airships.

Before the guard could say a thing, Tyrian pulled out a letter from his suit, flashing it towards the guard. The guard's eyes widened before bowing to them and hurriedly guiding them to a private airship.

"R-Right this way, your highness!"

After hearing that, the other people in the docks started to gossip amongst each other in hushed whispers.

Curious silver eyes blinked at the events she'd just witnessed. "Um… what was that?" Ruby asked, turning to her sister, Yang.

Yang shrugged, "Beats me. Looks like some sort of Prince or something."

"Prince? I thought the Royalty of Remnant were gone already?"

Yang shook her head, just as confused, "I don't know Rubes. I'm just as confused as you are." She stared at where the two people who suddenly appeared had gone to, frowning. "I just have a weird feeling about this…"

Before Ruby could say anything, another bright flash of white came, and with it appeared two other people. This time it was some woman dressed in a beautiful black and gold dress alongside a young girl who wore a similar but more refined and beautiful attire. Ruby squinted, making out that the dress she was wearing was actually fairly armored, though it didn't look like it.

She was surprised, she didn't know of a material that would have properties like that unless… "She's…!"

The black and gold pair headed towards another guard, showing a letter to them, by which the guard reacted in a similar, but slightly more composed manner.

"Y-Yes, this way, your highness." the guard lead the way, going in the same direction as the others went.

"Wow… what the heck is happening?" Yang muttered, "What were you going to say, Ruby?"

"No… nothing. I was just surprised, the material she had on her clothes… it was a very rare and difficult resource to acquire."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was… it was said to be something from another planet." Ruby muttered, before shaking her head, "W-We should hurry, we need to get into the Beacon Entrance Exam after all."

Ruby said, but she couldn't shake off a weird feeling that she was having. It's just that… things don't seem right.

It's like something that wasn't supposed to happen happened…

She didn't know why.

It just feels wrong.

* * *

Jaune grimaced as he looked at the airship in front of him, noticing this, the guard nervously asked, "I-Is it not to your liking, your highness?"

Jaune sighed and shook his head, "No, it's not that. I just have bad experiences with airships." he said, crossing his arms, "Hopefully it'll be better this time."

"Y-Yes sir! We can assure the quality of the pilot and the ship itself! You won't be disappointed, your highness!" the guard hurriedly said, sighing in relief as Jaune nodded absent-mindedly.

"It shouldn't be much of a problem for you now, your highness. You have your Aura now after all." Tyrian added, making Jaune let out a breath.

"We'll have to see." was all he said, before three other people arrived at where they were. Turning around, they saw two women alongside a guard, Jaune's eyes widened as he saw someone familiar. "A-Alexandria?"

Said girl, Alexandria, also had her eyes wide, "Jaune…?" she blinked in disbelief, "Y-You're here… I—"

"What a surprise to see you here, Nero Claudia." Tyrian said in a dark voice, making them turn to him,

Nero, the woman beside Alexandria, smirked, heterochromatic eyes switching between pink, brown then settling on simply brown. "To you as well, Tyrian Callows." she chuckled, curtsying to Jaune, "A pleasure to finally meet you, Prince Jaune Arc of Vale."

"Y-You knew?" Alexandria looked to Nero, a question in her eyes,

"Of course she does." Tyrian growled, dark aura flowing out of him, "You—what are you—"

"Stop." Jaune commanded.

Suddenly, the area turned silent. Jaune let out an exasperated breath, looking around them and seeing the startled people all around them.

Clicking his tongue, he glanced at one of the guards, "We can enter the airship now, right?"

"Y-Yes, your highness." the guard bowed, shaking slightly,

"Very well. Let's continue this inside." Jaune then turned around, stepping into the airship.

Alexandria simply stared at him for a moment before frowning, "Let's go."

"As you wish." Nero replied with a grin, following as Alexandria walked into the airship. Nero glanced at the guards around them, "Do keep your mouths shut about this, you all know the consequences, don't you~?" she said to them with a sweet smile before entering the airship herself.

She chuckled to herself as she heard the guard collapse as they went in. She recalled her conversation with Julius a week ago…

* * *

_"You know, I don't think they're quite ready for this." Nero said to Julius,_

_"They were born for this, there's no better time than now—"_

_"You know I'm not talking about them, right?" she frowned, "Grandfather… if this succeeds, then the Grimm would be the least of our problems."_

_Julius was silent at that, knowing fully well what she meant. "The fate of the world… I would rather give the choice to them. In your world, they never got that choice, and perhaps this is what Jaune would rather have for everyone."_

_"Is it really worth it to give them another chance?" Nero asked, narrowing her eyes, "They've wasted it once, already. How can we be so sure that it would be better now?"_

_"We can't." Julius answered, "Nobody knows what the future holds, after all… we can only guess."_

_Nero sighed and shook her head at that, "They don't deserve this."_

_"Perhaps they don't. Perhaps they do. One thing is for sure, however… Jaune made the choice that he would give the world another chance. He gave you another chance too. Would you not honor his decision at least?"_

_Nero glared at him, before scoffing, "Fine. Let's go get that bitch then."_

_Julius simply laughed, "You never change, do you, Nero?"_

_No, that was a lie. She changed, a lot._

* * *

And that's how she ended up here, having to handle Alexandria Watts of Mantle. Still, to think that Jaune had a soft spot for this girl was rather absurd, considering she was pretty much one of the main reasons _why_ Jaune was forced to become the King of Remnant. Not to mention how she'd literally backstabbed him by the end, wanting to save herself and her family—a family that would rather want her dead.

She never really figured out what Jaune liked about this girl so much, this bitch was literally insane. Though, that did make it all the more satisfying to kill her… not that Jaune would ever know, heh.

Nero could definitely understand how Tyrian feels here at least, especially with how much he hated Alexandria for what he did to Jaune. He never really did get over his obsessiveness, for all that Jaune made him a lot less… well, insane.

That did make her think, though… Jaune really did surround himself with insane people in that world, didn't he?

… he's far too good for this world, she swears.

"Nero." she blinked as Alexandria called her name, "I… I would like to be left alone with Jaune for now."

Nero frowned at that, "Are you sure about this, your highness? I might not be able to protect you by that time if I'm not close by." That was a lie, she could literally teleport to her if she wanted anyways, she just didn't want this bitch to get too close to Jaune.

Really, she would have rather not have her meet Jaune this early, who knows what she'd do?

… That, and, Tyrian. He might kill her before she could. That would be pretty problematic if that happened.

"It's fine. I trust Jaune." Alexandria said, but that wasn't what Nero was worried about. Nero hardly trusted this bitch.

Still, she had to follow her orders, as much as it killed her inside. Seriously, if it weren't for Jaune, she'd have killed this bitch already the first moment she'd stepped into this world.

"Very well then." Nero curtsied, much to her disgust, not that she ever showed it, "I shall be waiting by the lobby, your highness."

"Thank you, Nero." Alexandria said, heaving a sigh of relief, unbeknownst to her, however, Nero just rolled her eyes as she walked over to the lobby area.

Upon arriving there, she saw a couch and decided to sit on it. Personally, she would love to lie down on it, but she wasn't allowed to do that right now, at least with what she was doing, she turned her attention to a holographic screen showing the news.

_"On other news, there have been reports of wanted criminal Roman Torchwick being seen fighting a red-hooded Huntress just the other night…"_

Nero briefly lost herself for a moment, staring at the portrait shot of Roman. Clenching her fists for a moment, she shook her head and sighed. There was no point in that.

The Neo here… well, she'll just have to see. At the very least, she hopes that they don't cross paths, considering everything, she'd rather not kill herself, but who was she to decide? She'd totally kill Neo if she tried to get in their way.

Wow, just thinking of that was weird.

She heard footsteps coming from behind her, and she chuckled, "Kicked out by our little King too?"

"Why are you with her?" Straight to the point as always, Tyrian.

Nero sighed, "Honestly, I'd have rather killed the bitch than babysit her."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because it was his orders." Nero said, facing him as he stood in front of her. She crossed her legs, "I don't care what you think of me, just know that I really would kill the bitch if I was allowed to. But, no, gramps told me not to, so… I can't."

Tyrian stared into her eyes, just as she did, unblinking.

Tyrian was the first to break the eye contact, clicking his tongue, "The moment she steps out of line…"

"I'll kill her myself." Nero finished for him, standing and looking around as she felt a few… trespassers. "Though, it seems, right now, we have company." she smiled, watching as black and orange androids started to appear around them.

"Nero Claudia and Tyrian Callows detected. Unauthorized lifeforms… Executing termination…" one of the androids said, making Nero roll her eyes.

"You guys were never really good at your job." Nero said, clenching her fists as she glowed a pink hue.

"Please don't disturb his highness." Tyrian said, light glinting off his monocle, a manic grin settling upon his face as he spread his fingers out, invisible strands of aura extending from his gloves.

Nero grinned, the two of them may not always agree with each other, but one thing was for sure.

They weren't the King's personal guards for nothing.

* * *

**A/N: I don't know why, but I'm having too much fun with this story, as crazy as everything happening in it is... Hmm...**


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